Carl W. Kenney II is an award winning columnist and novelist. He is committed to engaging readers into a meaningful discussion related to matters that impact faith and society. He grapples with pondering the impact faith has on public space while seeking to understand how public space both hinders and enhances the walk of faith.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

The return of "Burn, baby! Burn"

Rioters in Watts shouted “Burn,
Baby! Burn!” during uprisings that began on August 11, 1965.The riots within the South Central Los Angeles
area resulted in 34 deaths, 1,032 injuries, 3,438 arrests, and over $40 million
in property damage.

"Burn, Baby! Burn!" was
the trademark of Magnificent Montague, a popular R&B disc Jockey on KGFK in
Los Angeles.Montague would howl “burn”
when a song moved him.Listeners
responded by calling the DJ and shouting “Burn” on the air.

They yelled “Burn, Baby! Burn!”
to articulate frustration after word spread that Marquette Frye and Rena Price
were roughed up by police.It wasn’t the
first time.It was a common practice –
police brutality, not only in Watts, but in black communities across the
country.

Yesterday was the 49th
anniversary of Watts.People are still
asking why did people
burn and loot in Watts?

Why are people rioting in
Ferguson, Missouri?

It’s a question we shouldn’t have
to ask.The question reflects a deep
divide between the pain of rioters, and the assumptions of those who believe
these types of matters should be left to the system to unravel.Those who ask the question miss the point of
the rage.

The system is the problem.

How do you respond when yet
another black youth is killed for no reason?How do you keep that rage contained when confronted with too many
examples were justice fails to prevail?

How do you watch Michael Brown’s
mother cry without feeling compelled to respond in a way that reflects your sorrow?
How to you respond to those who refuse to listen?What do you say to those who discount the
dignity of the life taken, and use excuses to justify the death of another
black man?

What do you say to a nation that
blames victims for crossing the line? What do you do when authorities refuse to
listen to the witness who watched a police officer kill his friend?

“I saw the barrel of the gun
pointed at my friend,” Dorian Johnson, 22, told Trymaine Lee of MSNBC. “Then I
saw the fire come out of the barrel.”

Johnson told MSNBC the incident began
as an order by a police officer to ‘get the f— onto the sidewalk’ and quickly
escalated into a physical altercation and then, gunfire.

“I could see so vividly what was
going on because I was so close,” said Johnson, who was within arm’s reach of
both Brown and the officer when the first of several shots was fired.

Johnson said they continued
walking after telling the officer they were close to their destination.He says the officer then slammed on his
breaks, backed up, nearly hitting them.

They heard him say something to
the effect of, “what’d you say?” At the same time, Johnson says the officer
slammed the door into Brown, and, with his left hand, grabbed Brown by the
neck.

“I could see the muscles in his
forearm,” Johnson said. “Mike was trying to get away from being choked.”

“They’re not wrestling so much as his arm went
from his throat to now clenched on his shirt,” Johnson said. “It’s like tug of
war. He’s trying to pull him in. He’s pulling away, that’s when I heard, ‘I’m
gonna shoot you.’”

Johnson said he looked at the officer to see
if he was pulling a stun gun or a real gun. That’s when he saw the muzzle of
the officer’s gun.

“I seen the barrel of the gun pointed at my
friend,” he said. “He had it pointed at him and said ‘I’ll shoot,’ one more
time.”

Johnson said he heard the first
shot go off.

“I seen the fire come out of the barrel,” he
said. “I could see so vividly what was going on because I was so close.”

Johnson says he looked over at Brown and saw
blood through his shirt on the right side of the body.

“The whole time [the officer] was holding my
friend until the gun went off,” Johnson said.

Johnson said he and Brown took off running
together. There were three cars lined up along the side of the street. Johnson
says he ducked behind the first car, whose two passengers were screaming.
Crouching down a bit, he watched Brown run past.

“Keep running, bro!,” he said Brown yelled.
Then Brown yelled it a second time. Those would be Brown’s last words.

Brown made it past the third car. Then, “blam!”
the officer took his second shot, striking Brown in the back. At that point,
Johnson says Brown stopped, turned with his hands up and said “I don’t have a
gun, stop shooting!”

By that point, Johnson says the officer and
Brown were face-to-face. The officer then fired several more shots. Johnson
told MSNBC he watched Brown go from standing with his hands up to crumbling to
the ground and curling into a fetal position.

“After seeing my friend get gunned
down, my body just ran,” Johnson said. He ran to his apartment nearby. Out of
breath, shocked and afraid, Johnson says he went into the bathroom and vomited.
Then he checked to make sure that he hadn’t also been shot.

Five minutes later, Johnson
emerged from his apartment to see his dead and in the middle of the street.

What do you say and do after
hearing a story like that? Freeman Bosley, Johnson’s attorney, said police have
declined an opportunity to speak with Johnson.

What do you think after Trayvon Martin?What do you do after Eric Garner was choked
to death by police in New York City?Do
you wait?Do you hope for justice?Do you maintain trust in the system?

Do you accept the notion that we
are experiencing a post-racial America, and that time will prove the police did
nothing wrong? Should we indict rioters for overreacting, or is something
deeper taking place to reshape the conscious of black America.

1 comment:

Appalling and all too common. I am saddened by this killing, this police murder, and cannot imagine his family ever recovering from this trauma. And I bet nothing happens to the murderer except a paid leave and a temporary desk job.

Total Pageviews

Carl W. Kenney II

Carl was named the best serious columnist of 2011 by the North Carolina Press Association for his work with the News & Observer's community paper The Durham News and in 2016 by the Missouri Press Association for his columns in the Columbia Missourian. He is a columnist with the News & Observer and Co-Executive Producer of "God of the Oppressed" an upcoming documentary film on black liberation theology. He is a former Adjunct Professor at the University of Missouri - School of Journalism and Adjunct Instructor at Duke University, the Center for Documentary Studies. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He furthered his education at Duke University and attained a Master of Divinity. He was named a Fellow in Pastoral Leadership Development at the Princeton Theological Seminary on May 14, 2005. He is a freelance writer with his commentary appearing in The Washington Post, Religious News Services,The Independent Weekly and The Durham Herald-Sun. Carl is the author of two novels: “Preacha’ Man” and the sequel “Backslide”.
He has led congregations in Missouri and North Carolina